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New Spirit

Ezekiel 36:26
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."

Last week we studied Queen Esther, who fully surrendered to God and risked everything to save her people. From her example we learn that God has a mission for each of us. It may not be as dramatic as Esther’s, but it is no less important. Whether raising children, serving the church, or blessing your community, your obedience can make an eternal difference.

This week we turn to another dramatic calling. But first, we look at God’s promise in Ezekiel of a radical, divine intervention. The “heart of stone” represents our natural, hardened, rebellious, and spiritually dead condition—resistant to God, insensitive to sin, and unable to obey Him.

God promises:
•A new heart: A transformed inner being with new desires and affections aligned with Him.
•A new spirit: The renewal and empowerment of our human spirit by God’s Holy Spirit.
•A heart of flesh: A soft, responsive, living heart capable of loving and obeying God.

This radical change is not achieved by human effort, it is a gracious gift initiated solely by God.

Ezekiel’s prophecy points forward to the New Covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The new heart and indwelling Holy Spirit (see v. 27) are realized in the New Testament when believers are regenerated by the Spirit (Titus 3:5) and made new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). God's calling at work in people's lives. 
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